Interconnection device



June 8, 1948.

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40 ATTORNEY Patented June 8, 1948 mraacomcrrom nnvrcn Robert E. Paris, 'leaneck, N. 1., assignor to International Business Machines Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation or New York Application March 31, 1945, Serial No. 585,923

Claims.

This invention relates to a device for making interconnections in complex circuits, and its primary object is to reduce the space requirements of such devices.

Another object is to provide a substitute for the usual plugboard of record controlled machines, which will be simpler to set up and free from disturbance in the use of the machine.

In accordance with the invention, the interconnections are established by means of cardlike plates which can be assembled into a single compact stack. Preferably, these plates have the size and shape of standard cards used in cardcontrolled machines, and may have code designations, for instance code perforations, which enable them to be selected, checked, and reflled by means of card controlled machines.

Other objects of the invention will be pointed out in the following description and claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which disclose, by way of example, the principle of the invention and the best mode, which has been contemplated, of applying that principle.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the interconnection device, with the cover of one part removed and the cover of another part swung back on its hinge.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

2 and a hinged cover l2 over another part, which can be held closed by a clamp [3. The right end of the box l0 contains an array of connectors ll having the construction shown in detail in Figs. 8 and 9. In the present embodiment there are 1296 connectors, only a few of which are shown in the drawing. Each connector comprises a guide tube i6 and a sliding pin ll. The guide tubes are of metal and are permanently mounted in vertical partitions i8 and I9. Each has electrically connected to it a wire 20, the wires being gathered into cables 2| which extend out through a hole 22 in the end wall 23 of the box. The pins ii are oi metal and have bare pointed ends Ilx, insulation covered shafts Hy, and bare shanks I'Iz, which slide in the tubes l6 and make elec-' trical contact therewith. The pointed ends ll: of the pins normally rest within related holes 26 in a third partition 21. Upon the opposite side of this partition is a stack of connection plates ll, with which the pins cooperate in a manner to be described. The stack of plates is set into the box between the partition 21 and a clamping plate 28, which is drawn back by means of a hand wheel 28 operating a screw 20 having threaded engagement with a nut 3i on the end wall 22 and rotary connection at to the plate 28. Then the cover I2 is swung over and clamped by the clamp I3, its pads 33 and 34 settling the Fig. 3 is an end elevation taken from the left P ates into correct registration. Finally the hand end of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Figs. 6 and 7 are face views of two connection plates.

Fig. 8 is a detail plan view, partly in section, illustrating the connection pins and the manner in which they make contact with the connection plates.

Fig. 9 is a detail view on a still larger scale showing a small section of two pairs of plates with the pins making contact with them.

Fi 10 is a detail sectional view of a modified form of the invention.

Fig. 11 is a vertical section of another modified form of the invention, showing the plates separated.

Fig. 12 is a view similar to Fig. 9 showing a third plate inserted between the two plates in Fig. 9. v

The cross-connection means are housed in a box ll having a cover Ii (Fig. 2) over one part,

wheel 29 is turned to tighten the plate 28 against the stack.

In the present instance the connection plates are shown to be in the form of a well known record control card for electric accounting machines. Each connection plate (Figs. 6-9) comprises a metal plate 40 coated on one side with a layer of insulation 4|. The plates shown in Figs. 6 and 'I have their insulation on opposite sides, so that when laid together with their bare sides in contact the two plates will be electrically connected, but will form a group insulated on both sides. The plates shown in these figures each have 1296 holes arranged in two areas, there being 24 horizontal rows and 2'7 holes in each horizontal row within each of the two areas constitilting the left and right halves of the plates. All of the holes 42 in the right half of the plate shown in Fig. 6 are of uniform larger size, and all of the holes in the left half but one are oi the same larger size, the one hole #97 being of smaller size. In describing the hole #97 as being of smaller size I mean that it is of such small diameter or of such configuration that it will not which ordinarily remains permanently in place, allow a pin" to pass through it, but will make layer of insulation 8|.

contact with the tapered end thereof. On the other hand, in Fig. 7 all the holes in the left half are of the larger size and all of the holes but the one hole #963 in the right half are of the larger size. When pairs of the two kinds of plates illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7 are formed into a stack, as shown at 14 in Fig. 1, all of the registering larger holes will form cylindrical openings 43 (Figs. 8 and 9). The holes of the card stack register with respective holes in the partition 21 and with the connection pins I! therein, so that the holes in the stack are in position to have the respective connection pins thrust into them. In a complete file of connection plates there will be plates having small holes in each of the 1296 different hole positions and, since each plate has only one small hole, each plate will make connection with only one pin. However, since the plates are arranged in pairs, with the plates of each pair in electrical contact with each other, but with the pairs insulated from each other by insulating layers, the two pins which make contact with the two plates of each pair will be electrically connected to each other. The function of the larger holes is simply to avoid contact with all of the connection pins except one. The plates might be cut away in other ways to accomplish this purpose, but the large holes, as shown, retain maximum strength of the plates by limiting the material cut away to the minimum.

The arrangement shown in'Figs. 8 and 9 is preferred, because the pointed ends of the pins become wedged into the small holes of the plates, making good electrical contact which is not disturbed by vibration. However, various other arrangements can be employed, two of which are shown in Figs. 10 and 11. In Fi 10 the plates, composed of metal layers 40 and insulating layers 4|, are stacked horizontally and the pins rest upon them by gravity. The upper plate merely has the insulation removed at 45 to admit the left pin into contact with the unperforated metal portion 44. The right pin extends through the large hole 43 directy into contact with the metal layer of the lower plate.

Fig.11 shows two pairs of connection plates 10, H and a cover plate 12. The upper connection plates 13 in each pair comprise a metal layer 14 the left half of which is covered on top by a layer of insulation I5. The lower connection plate 16 in each pair comprises a metal layer 11 the right half of which is covered on the bottom by a layer of insulation 18. The cover plate 12 comprises a layer of metal 19 completely covered on top by a layer of insulation 80 and covered on the right half of its bottom face by a The two pins I! at the right make contact with unperforated portions of the bare right halves of respective upper plates 73. The two pins I! at the left make contact with unperforated portions of the metal layers of respective lower plates, which are completely bare on top. In all pin positions except the one where contact is to be made with the related pin each plate has large holes 82 to clear the pins. The cover plate has no unperforated pin position, its purpose being merely to level the stack and to provide complete insulation for the top numbering the holes. In the upper zone of the left side of Fig. 6, in column 1, there is a column of holes numbered 0, l, of it is a column numbered 10, 11, 18, 19; and so on to column 27, which has the numbers 260, 261, 268, 269. In the second zone the numbers run from 270 at the upper left to 539 at the lower right. In the bottom zone the numbers run from 540 to 647. There will be a set of 648 plates similar to the one shown in Fig. 6, all having an insulating layer on the back side and each having a small hole, like the hole #97, in a different one of the 648 diiferent hole positions of the left half of the plate. All of the holes in the right half of this set of plates will be of the larger size. Each plate has a central field 46 consisting of four columns in which the number of the plate can be represented by code designations. Plate #97 shown in Fig. 6 has its number represented by perforations 41 designating 0097. The spacing of the columns in the field 46 is that of a standard column control card and is different from that of the columns of holes 42.

The number of the holes in the right half of the plates is shown in Fig. 7. Here again there are three zones, the holes in the upper zone being numbered from 650 to 919, those in the second zone from 920 to 1189, and those in the bottom zone from 1190 to 1297. There will be a set of 648 places similar to the one shown in Fig. 7, all having an insulating layer on the front side and each having a small hole, like the hole #963, in a different one of the 648 different hole positions in the right half of the plate. All of the holes in the left half of the plates of this set will be of the larger size. plate shown in Fig. 7 is perforated to designate the number 0963. When a plate such as the one shown in Fig. 6 is paired with one such as shown in Fig. 7 a circuit entering through a pin I! in the left hand group, such as the one in position #97, will pass through the pair of plates and emerge through a pin I! in the right hand group, such as the pin in position #963.

It may be desirable in some cases to interconnect three or more conductors. For this purpose additional plates may be provided having no insu-' lation. Fig. 12 illustrates the connection afforded by means of such rplates used in combination with the plates having insulation on opposite sides. A pin 1 1a engages the conductive plate 40a, extending through the cylindrical opening 43 formed by registering larger openings of other plates; The uninsulated plate 4% is engaged by a pin 11b and the insulated plate 400 is engaged by a pin 110. Thus, the connection pin Ila is connected to both of the pins llb and lie. The uninsulated plate can be duplicated or multiplied by any desired number, depending upon the con- 7 nections required.

Generally there will be a separate plate for each pin, but I may also provide a plate with a plurality of small holes, to achieve multiple connections through a single plate.

Means are provided to operate the connection pins simultaneously. An operating frame composed of vertical side bars 50 (Figs. 4 and 5), top and bottom cross bars 5| and 52 and friction clamp straps 53 is mounted on horizontal bars 54 guided in slots 55 in side walls 56 and 51. The clamp straps 53 have three leaves 53a, b, and 0 through which the sliding pins I! are thrust in the manner of weaving, so that the spring leaves will be flexed to exert a frictional force upon the plus. The side bars 54 are connected by links 58 8, 9. To the right The central field 46 of the to crank arms 59 fixed ably mounted in the side walls 58 and I1 (see also Figs. 1 and 2). Outside the side wall I! the shaft I! has fixed to it a crank handle 8|. By swinging the crank handle through 180 from the position shown in Fig. l, the pin operating frame is moved to the left, carrying with it all the sliding pins ll. As the diilerent pins strike the contact areas of the related plates they are stopped in their leftward movement and the clamp straps slide over them during the remainder of the movement of the frame 50-53. When the crank is turned backward to the original position shown, the pins are withdrawn from the stack of plates, their movement to their initial position being insured by small collars 62 on the insulating layers covering the shaft portions of the pins which are engaged by the spring clamps 53 in their movement to the righ When the crank 6| is in the right hand position the points of the pins I! are all withdrawn behind the left face of the partition 21.

While there have been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the device illustrated and in its operation may be made by those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An interconnection device stacked conductive plates, connection pins normal to the plates of the stack, each pin in electrical contact with a different conductive plate and the conductive plates being cut away to avoid contact with all but the one related pin, and insulating layers separating said conductive plates into groups of two or more.

2. An interconnection device comprising stacked conductive plates, connection pins normal to the plates of the stack, each pin in electrical contact with a diiferent conductive plate and the conductive plates being cut away to avoid contact with all but the one related pin, at least some of said plates being covered on one side or the other by insulation, whereby said plates are electrically separated into groups of two or more.

3. An interconnection device comprising stacked conductive plates separated into groups of two or more by insulating layers, two sets of connection .pins normal to the plates of the stack, each pin making electrical contact with one, and only one conductive plate, each group of plates including plates making contact with pins of each set and all the plates of each group being electrically interconnected, the plates being cut away to avoid contact of any pin with more than one plate.

4. In a device for making electrical interconnections, a laminated stack comprising conductive layers and insulating layers, each conductive layer being in contact with one or more other conductive layers to form a group separated by certain of said insulating layers from adjacent conductive layers, each conductive layer, and any insulating layer adjacent thereto, having a small hole in a unique location thereon and being cut away to expose the differently located small holes of the other conductive layers, and a plurality of connection pins adapted to be inserted through openings in the stack, formed by the cut-away comprising to a crank shaft 60 rotat- 6 portions of the layers, to make electrical contact only with respective small holes of the different conductive layers. v

5. In a device for making electrical interconnections, a laminated stack comprising conductive layers and insulating layers, each conductive layer being in contact with oneor more other conductive layers to form a group separated by certain of said insulating layers from adjacent conductive layers, each conductive layer having a contact making portion in a unique location thereon, said'layers contact making portions of all other conductive layers, and a plurality of connection pins adapted to be inserted with clearance through openings in the stack formed by the cut-away portions of the layers, to make electrical contact only with the contact making portions of respective conductive layers.

6. In a device for making electrical interconnections, a stack of connection plates, each having a conductive side and an insulating side, the plates being arranged in pairs with their conductive sides in contact, whereby the plates of each pair are electrically connected but the pairs are insulated from one another, all of said plates having an array of similarly positioned holes therein, all of the holes but one in each plate being larger than said one hole and said one hole being in a different location for each plate. whereby the stack of cards presents cylindrical openings formed by registering holes of the larger diameter, the smaller holes in the different plates being exposed within different ones of said cylindrical openings of the stack, and a plurality of pointed connection pins having a diameter intermediate that of said large and small holes, whereby said pins can be thrust through related ones of said cylindrical openings without making contact with the edges of the larger holes, at least some of said pins making contact with conductive edges of respective smaller holes, thereby establishing electrical connection between pairs of pins through respective pairs of plates.

7. An interconnection device comprising two sets of conductive plates, the plates of one set being coated with insulation on the front side and the plates of the other set being coated with the back side, each of said plates having a uniquely positioned contact portion, said plates being adapted to be assembled in pairs composed of any one plate from one set and any one plate from the other set, the plates in.each pair having their bare sides in contact and the pairs being stacked in a single stack in which the pairs are insulated from each other, the plates being cut away to expose the contact portions of all plates inside the stack, and a plurality of electrical conductors each adapted to make electrical contact with the conductive portion of a different plate.

8. An interconnection device as described in claim 7, wherein a third set 01' conductive plates is provided having no insulation and having contact portions, one on each plate, positioned differently from all of the contact portions of one of said first mentioned sets, the plates of said third set being adapted to be inserted between the bare sides of said pairs of plates to present additional contact portions for connection to individual electrical conductors.

9. An interconnection device comprising a stack holder, a stack of conductive plates in said stack holder separated by layers of insulation into groups, a plurality 01' pins, means mounting said being cut away to expose. the 1 pins in spaced relation all normal to said stack, said pins being mounted so as to be movable longitudinally into said stack, the plates in the stack having differently positioned contact portions for engagement by different ones of said pins and each being cut away to avoid contact with all of said pins except the one positioned to engage the contact portion of the respective plate.

10. An interconnection device comprising a stack holder, a stack of conductive plates in said stack holder separated by layers of insulation into groups, a plurality of pins, means mounting said pins in spaced relation all normal to said stack, said pins being mounted so as to be movable longitudinally into said stack, the plates in the stack having diiferently positioned contact portions for engagement by different ones of said pins and each being cut away to avoid contact with all of said pins except the one positioned to engage the contact portion of the respective plate, and actuating means adapted to move said pins differential distances into the stack determined, for each pin, by the engagement thereof with the contact portion of the related plate.

11. An interconnection device comprising an array of pins mounted in spaced parallel relation for longitudinal movement, a number of conductive plates corresponding to the number of pins, said plates being of uniform size somewhat greater than the cross sectional area of said array of pins, means to hold a stack of said plates perpendicular to said pins and in front of the ends thereof, each plate having a contact portion positioned for engagement by a particular one of said pins which is different for each plate, and each plate being cut away to avoid contact with all of said pins except the one positioned to engage its contact portion, when the pins are thrust into the stack, insulating means to segregate said plates in groups, the plates within each group being in electrical contact with each other, and being selected from the total numbers of plates so as to connect certain pins electrically with certain other pins, by virtue of their distinctively positioned contact portions.

12. An interconnection device comprising an array of pins mounted in spaced parallel relation for longitudinal movement, an operating mechanism comprising means frictionally engaging all of said pins and means for moving said last means in the longitudinal direction of said pins, a number of conductive plates corresponding to the number of pins, said plates being of uniform size somewhat greater than the cross sectional area of said array of pins, means to hold a stack of said plates perpendicular to said pins and in front of the ends thereof, each plate having a contact portion positioned for engagement by a particular one of said pins which is different for each plate, and each plate being cut away to avoid contact with all of said pins except the one positioned to engage its contact portion, when the pins are thrust into the stack by said operating mechanism, the contact portions of the different plates being adapted to stop the respective pins as they are moved by said operating mechanism, to establish electrical contact therewith, insulating means to segregate said plates in groups, the plates within each group being in electrical contact with each other, and being selected from the total numbers of plates so as to connect certain pins electrically with certain other pins, by virtue of their distinctively positioned contact portions.

13. An interconnection device comprising a box, an array of pins mounted in said box in spaced parallel relation for longitudinal movement, a partition in said box perpendicular to said pins at one end of the latter, said partition having apertures through which said pins can be thrust to project on the opposite side, a plurality of conductive plates, one for each pin, from which a selection can be made to form a stack, means to confine said stack in a definite position on said opposite side of said partition, with the plates perpendicular to said pins, said plates being characterized by contact portions uniquely positioned for engagement by their respective pins and being cut away to avoid contact with all other pins, and insulating means to segregate said plates in groups, the plates within each group being in electrical contact with each other. so as to establish electrical connection between all pins engaging plates in the same group.

14. An interconnection device comprising a box, an array of pins mounted in said box in spaced parallel relation for longitudinal movement, an operating mechanism comprising a grid work frictionally engaging all said pins and a crank mechanism for moving said grid work in the longitudinal direction of said pins, a partition in said box perpendicular to said pins at one end of the latter, said partition having apertures through which said pins can be thrust by said operating mechanism to project on the opposite side, a plurality of conductive plates, one for each pin, from which a selection can be made to form a stack, means to confine said stack in a definite position on said opposite side of said partition, with the plates perpendicular to said pins, said plates being characterized by contact portions uniquely positioned for engagement by their respective pins and being cut away to avoid contact with all other pins, and insulating means to segregate said plates in groups, the plates within each group being in electrical contact with each other, so as to establish electrical connection between all pins engaging plates in the same group.

15. An interconnection device comprising stacked conductive plates, a substantial number of connection pins normal to the plates of the stack, there being at least one pin in contact with each conductive plate, each conductive plate being cut away to provide a clear way for each pin which has to pass through it to make contact with another plate, and insulating layers separating said conductive plates into groups of two or more.

ROBERT E. PARIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 249,574 Blake Nov. 15, 1881 276,216 Blake Apr. 24, 1883 1,144,225 Mills June 22, 1915 1,479,315 Pickard Jan. 1, 1924 2,006,436 Bowers July 2, 1935 2,261,761 Hanson et al. Nov. 4, 1941 

